COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS; LOEWS TO BUY NATURAL GAS PIPELINE FOR $795 MILLION

Published: April 15, 2003

The Loews Corporation said yesterday that it had agreed to buy a 5,800-mile natural gas pipeline from the Williams Companies for $795 million. Loews will pay Williams $795 million for the pipeline unit, the Texas Gas Transmission Corporation, and assume $250 million in debt, the companies said. The pipeline can deliver 2.8 billion cubic feet of gas a day, enough for 11.2 million homes, from Texas and Louisiana to the Midwest and Southeast, Williams said. Loews is based in New York. Williams, which is based in Tulsa, Okla., will record a loss of as much as $120 million on the sale. Williams has announced or completed $2.1 billion in divestitures this year.